Previously on The Borgias...
I had a dream, my son.
The French armies swarmed through Rome like a cloud of locusts.
You have heard what happened at Lucca?
The whole world has heard, Father.
Cardinal Sforza, you have a cousin married to my sister.
He would be wise to remain steadfast.
You will let these French armies march to Rome.
The arms of the house of Sforza will remain where they belong.
I wake up nauseous.
You are with child.
Have you any friends you can confide in?
There is a groom, Paolo.
We must leave this castle.
These are dangerous roads, fair ladies.
We have a captive, my liege. A Borgia.
You have not yet told us, Cardinal, why you are here.
I am travelling with the French king
to institute the deposition of your father.
Twenty-five thousand French troops are marching towards Rome.
We are facing a battle for our survival.
Holy Father, we should abandon Rome.
We will not tolerate this heresy!
This is the chair of St Peter's! We are the voice of the living God!
Central cannons, fire!
Your Highness, could you halt the cannon for a moment?
- We need a stratagem. - I will not accept defeat.
Leave that to me.
It was my brother, Your Highness. He thought you meant to sack Rome.
I told him your goal is Naples.
Your son's army is in retreat. The French plague is almost upon us.
We will stay here.
And we shall be here when you return.
If you return.
- Must you all desert me? - I will not leave you, Father.
Rome is like an old whore,
waiting once more for her ravishment.
Your brother did not fail, Cesare. Your father did.
- I want you to leave. - I cannot. I have taken vows.
Cowards! You're like lemmings running to your doom!
- Take your mother to safety in Ostia. - But, Father...
Go!
Your very presence here attests that you were
given this office for a reason, Your Holiness.
Well.
- Formation! General. - Oui, mon Capitaine!
Ready, my general!
When we enter Rome, Your Highness,
we should demand an immediate convocation
of the sacred College of Cardinals.
For what purpose?
Only the College of Cardinals can depose a pope.
I think you may find Rome empty of cardinals, Your Highness,
except for His Eminence Cardinal Della Rovere.
Forward!
Tight file!
- Faster! - Forward!
- Begin! - Gate sentry, get ready!
Where are the cheering crowds?
The welcoming populace?
I would hazard they have fled, my liege.
Did you not promise us, Cardinal,
that the city of Rome would welcome us with open arms?
They have heard of your military prowess, my liege.
We smell politics.
We dislike politics.
There will be no argument and no politics, sire. The battle has been won.
And who won the battle?
You did, sire.
You truly are a clown, Cardinal.
Tight file!
You are a true clairvoyant, Lucrezia Borgia.
Why, thank you, Your Highness.
And if we could impose on your diplomatic graces once more,
we would request an audience with your father,
His Holiness the Pope of Rome.
There are matters of importance I would discuss with him.
- A private audience? - Yes, of course.
I think I know, at this hour, where he may be found.
Company, halt!
Cardinal.
Men at arms, halt!
Come, sire.
His Holiness breaks his prayers between prime and terce.
Miserere mei, Deus,
secundum magnam miseri...
Your Holiness!
- Miserere mei... - Your Holiness!
..secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam
- misericordiam... - Forgive me, Friar.
I am seeking an audience with the Pope.
You have been interrupted at prayer.
Our prayers are ended.
And perhaps they will be answered.
Can this really be the Pope of Rome?
Pope Alexander...
..Sextus.
At your service, my lord.
And you, my lord, are...?
King Charles of France.
It is not as we expected.
Does the Pope of Rome disappoint Your Highness?
Had you hoped for gold and silver vestments?
Display has its purpose.
But simplicity must rule our hearts.
We are all of us naked before God.
Even the Pope of Rome.
Even the King of France.
Who's there?
I have missed those hands.
And I have missed that face.
I have brought a king to Rome, Cesare,
from a far-off land.
I have heard.
My little sister has achieved what the papal arms could not.
He seeks guidance
from the head of Christendom.
Of course.
I am sure you too, Your Highness,
sometime long to be free of the burden of kingship.
- To walk as a man among men. - Ah.
It would be sweet relief, Your Holiness.
Just as we long to be free of the burden of the papacy.
The papal robes are such a weight upon our shoulders.
One longs to be relieved of the burden,
to be a simple priest again,
praying to the God of Abraham.
We understand, Your Holiness.
Then perhaps Your Highness knows one who would relieve us of this burden?
The very thought appals me, Your Holiness.
Really?
Why?
We do not choose our calling, Your Holiness.
It is chosen for us.
When called to serve, as King of France,
and, I am sure, as Pope of Rome,
we can only have one response...
..serviam.
I will serve.
However imperfect my service,
however human my failings,
when called to serve...
Your Highness is troubled.
I have exulted in the thrill of battle.
I have turned streets
into rivers of blood.
I have played the part of God,
and in my arrogance,
assumed that I served his cause.
Then perhaps...
what is needed...
is a renewal of one's vows.
One's vows?
A renewal of your vows of kingship
before the Pope of Rome.
The papal investiture of the Kingdom of France.
France,
as you must know, Your Holiness,
has traditional claims upon the Kingdom of Naples.
But of course!
Even better.
The papal investiture
of the kingdoms
of France and Naples.
And your solemn oath,
before God...
to rule them in his holy name.
You must tell me everything, sis.
There are some things, brother, it would be best not to speak of.
Your husband, Giovanni Sforza,
he proved ungallant?
More than that. He betrayed our father, the Pope.
I know of his betrayal, sis, and he shall pay the price.
But if he misused you he shall pay a different kind of price.
It has been a long journey, Cesare, and I...
And I have kept my spirits intact thus far, but I...
Lucrezia...you need a medic.
No, no, no, brother. I...
But you are ill.
You are faint.
It is a common illness, brother.
I am with child.
My God.
Does... Does anybody know?
Only one. Giulia Farnese. And I would keep it that way.
- Why? - Because the child,
thank God...
is not my husband's.
The Pope of Rome has kindly put the Castel Sant'Angelo at our disposal.
We can billet the troops on the populace of the Eternal City.
And you'll be pleased to know,
Cardinal Della Rovere,
the College of Cardinals will be convened.
Gate sentry, ready!
Father.
Holy Father.
Um...
The French king...
Proved to be a man of God
in search of guidance and spiritual solace,
like any man.
There may be kings more handsome,
but hardly more devout.
And, uh, what of Naples?
We discussed the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples.
And I told him,
there was no need for a great army.
All he had to do was to ask.
The College of Cardinals will be convened, not to discuss our deposition,
but to consider their shameful abandonment of the Vatican in its hour of need.
You have returned the books, Burchart.
Of course, Your Holiness.
Well, please, continue.
We have...
convened the College of Cardinals.
We find their abandonment of the Vatican
in its hour of greatest peril truly shameful.
As must you, surely,
Burchart.
It is indeed most shameful, Your Holiness.
Your own absence has been noted.
But we believe that your concern
was with the most sacred volumes of our library.
I did my best to protect them from harm, Your Holiness.
Well...
Well, now you must study them carefully
and find a precedent for us.
We think that a period of penitence is in order
for the curia who so selfishly abandoned us.
What kind of penitence did His Holiness have in mind?
We think they should present themselves in sackcloth and ashes at the next convention.
Sackcloth and ashes?
Yes.
Can you find
such a precedent for us?
I will do my utmost, Your Holiness.
I am the convent's benefactor. You'll be safe.
Must I take the cloth?
No.
But you may rest here while you are still with child.
Must I hide myself, then?
Perhaps, until the child is born.
There is the annulment of your marriage to consider.
Can my marriage be annulled?
Only if it was never consummated.
But I am with child, Cesare.
Indeed. The child is not his.
But my marriage was consummated.
In...
the harshest possible manner.
I beg you not to worry about it, sis.
I will find a solution, I swear.
And I have a dear friend here who promised to take the very best of care of you.
Her name?
Sister Martha.
She was once known as Ursula Bonadeo.
I remember.
Sister Martha.
- Cardinal. - My sister, Lucrezia Borgia.
I remember. I was at her wedding.
Sister.
You still look beautiful.
But you have lost your wonderful hair.
A woman's beauty can be a great distraction.
As you yourself must already know.
You will find it peaceful here.
And maybe peace is what you need at this juncture.
I must warn you, Sister,
I shall visit at every available opportunity.
You must.
I will.
Goodbye, sister.
There are beauteous women in Naples, I have been told.
- Oh! - Even for this ugly snout of mine.
They will swear it is divine, Your Highness.
They can lie in Naples?
Exceedingly well.
- They hardly know what truth is. - Hah!
A most excellent pontiff, your father,
is he not?
I have no other to compare him with.
Well, he has suited our purpose.
We could be said to have an understanding.
We could, indeed.
But in case, just in case,
we would make a request of Your Holiness.
We will respectfully hear it.
We would have you nominate a papal legate
to accompany our armies to the Kingdom of Naples,
to remain with us
for the duration of our visit.
Very well.
We will nominate a legate of our choice...
Oh, no! Not of your choice, Holy Father.
Of ours.
Who would you choose?
Your son.
Cardinal Cesare Borgia.
You would have me accompany your army
as...a hostage?
No. God forbid.
A hostage implies enmity.
And what does legate imply?
Friendship, surely.
And a guarantee that such friendship will continue.
- Hmm. - Hmm?
What is the difference, Holy Father, between hostage and legate?
As the King said, one implies enmity, the other friendship.
And you will insist on this charade?
King Charles will not remain in Naples for long.
How can you be certain?
Mm. We are not certain, but we suspect.
You should take your manservant with you.
For entertainment. For protection.
And if you find the rumours of an outbreak of plague in Naples are true,
I'm sure you can find your way home.
Are we understood?
Understood.
Good.
Because now another charade demands our attention.
You may sit, cardinals.
Now, before we begin the proceedings,
we would consider
the penitential intentions of each member of this college.
We would start with the Vice-Chancellor,
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza.
You may kneel, Cardinal.
My shame, I hope,
is obvious to all, Your Holiness.
And of what are you ashamed?
Of my abandonment of Rome,
of St Peter's, of your...
sacred presence.
In our hour of need.
Indeed.
- Mm. - And in recompense,
I offer all the benefices
of the Sforza ecclesiastical estates to the Holy See of St Peter's.
That is kind, indeed.
And we shall most graciously accept.
Cardinal...
Piccolomini.
Unburden your soul.
In our capacity as the chosen of God,
the Bishop of Rome,
the Vicar of Jesus Christ,
successor to the Prince of the Apostles,
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church,
we invest thee,
Charles of France,
with the crowns of France
and the crown of Naples.
And we confer our sacred blessing
on thy reign in both those kingdoms.
It is an august sight, is it not?
St Peter's in its full glory,
the Pope of Rome in cathedra,
the Sistine Chapel Choir singing,
it would bring tears to one's eyes, Cardinal Borgia.
I want to compliment you, Cardinal, on your steadfastness,
your probity, your survival, indeed.
It did prove hard at times.
In fact, you proved such a worthy opponent
that I would gladly have you back in Rome.
- You? - I have my father's ear,
as you must understand.
And he needs someone with the steel that your soul has.
He has you, does he not?
I will not be cardinal forever. Surely you must know that.
And the other cardinals?
The Holy Father's problem is, he surrounds himself with weakness.
- And with your strength, Cardinal... - I serve God,
and can only pray the papacy survives its current occupant.
I could have killed you, twice.
Perhaps, then, you should kill me now,
because my opposition to the Borgia papacy will only die with me.
Micheletto, how do you think my escort becomes me?
Seems to be an escort worthy of your stature, Your Eminence.
What is my stature, Micheletto?
Papal legate to our new friend, the French king, is it not?
And as papal legate, I should be free to ride where I choose, should I not?
Indeed you should, Your Eminence.
Well, then...
I shall ride!
Halt! Halt!
- Company! - Micheletto.
It seems I am not papal legate after all.
Then what are you, Your Eminence?
It seems I am nobody, Micheletto.
Nobody?
Either that or a hostage.
Is this why we ride without weapons?
We ride without weapons because they were forbidden us.
Then I am now servant to a hostage, Your Eminence.
There are many ways to kill a man.
But for absolute silence, he prefers, um...
Tell them, Micheletto.
- The garrotte. - And what is the garrotte, pray?
Ah, it's... It's just a cheese-cutter, my friend.
You can kill with a cheese-cutter?
Most efficiently, yes.
Show me.
- You wish to see? - Certainly.
- How does it work? - Like this.
- Where are we headed, Your Eminence? - To Pesaro.
- And Giovanni Sforza. - Come on!
We are as shocked as you are, Monsieur Ambassador,
by the cardinal's disappearance.
But as to his whereabouts, Your Holiness?
Oh, his whereabouts, well...
We have no idea.
Would you inform His Royal Highness
that we will dispatch whatever cardinal he wishes to replace him.
Cardinal...Sforza, perhaps?
I will inform His Royal Highness thus, Your Holiness.
And please convey to him our wholehearted support
for his Neapolitan adventure.
We do not regard the conquest of Naples as an aventure, Your Holiness.
Oh, no, no.
But maybe Naples does.
And now, if you will excuse us...
we have another audience to attend to.
Come on.
- Walk on. - I'll take your mount, my lord.
- Go on. - There you go.
Make sure you tighten that saddle.
How are my dogs?
You missed the hunt today.
There's always tomorrow. Always tomorrow.
Don't eat too much. Be ready for the stag.
Killing would be easier, Your Eminence.
But some things should not be easy, Micheletto.
Hah!
Yah!
Where am I?
Where all roads lead to - Rome.
In there.
I must protest against this outrage!
Beaten, bound,
taken here against my will.
Could this be true?
Um, he did prove somewhat unwilling, Your Holiness.
Well, you're here now, and you're safe.
That's the main thing, is it not?
And why, may I ask, am I here?
Why, to discuss the annulment of your marriage, of course.
Annulment of my marriage?
You must admit, it did prove a disappointment.
The promised help of the Sforza family
to the papal states simply never arrived.
And the marriage bed,
we are told, was far from happy.
You'll never get away with this.
On the contrary, canon law is admirably clear on these matters.
Dear Burchart will elaborate.
It is written as if in stone.
There can be only one ground for the annulment of a marriage.
- And that is? - Non-consummation.
Non-consummation?
- You'll never be able to prove it. - Let me finish.
If the marriage can be proved never to have been consummated,
why, then, Your Holiness,
it never existed as a marriage.
Lady Lucrezia,
you have intimated some grave disappointment on your wedding night.
It was disturbing, Your Honour, in the extreme.
Would you be so kind as to elaborate?
I blush with shame to speak of such matters
before this august company,
but sadly...
tragically, my husband revealed himself to be...
You may speak frankly, Lady Lucrezia.
These are grave matters.
My husband...
turned out...
Please proceed.
Turned out...
to be impotent.
Ah.
Monstrous. This is monstrous! I can prove it! On the wedding night...
- Yes? - You said, on the wedding night...
- I say she lies. - Indeed.
But you just mentioned...proof.
She lies.
Ah.
There are precedents, Your Holiness,
for a demonstration of proof of...
potency.
Oh.
The Lord Sforza could demonstrate the truth
of his claims to full potency with the Lady Lucrezia
before a gathering of canon lawyers.
No, no, no. That would surely be distasteful to the lady herself,
indeed, as would the lord. Hmm?
The very thought is an outrage.
Well, then, there remains one more possibility.
A public demonstration of the Lord Sforza's prowess
with one or two willing maidens
would also constitute proof of potency.
- Public? - Indeed.
In a place of the college's choosing before a gathering of canon lawyers
and a selection of the Roman public.
You mean courtesans?
We will spare the Lord Sforza such public humiliation.
A demonstration here,
before our brother cardinals
would suffice.
Would His Holiness see the Lord Sforza with one or both of us?
Burchart?
One demonstration will suffice.
Me first, then.
Do these thighs not please you?
Enough!
Give me a divorce.
But on what grounds?
Impotence.
We must hear it from the Lord Sforza's own lips.
For the record,
on the wedding night...
On the wedding night I did not consummate my marriage.
Did not or could not?
Did not.
And could not.
You were on that night and remain...
Impotent.
We declare the marriage between the Lady Lucrezia Borgia
and the Lord Giovanni Sforza
to be invalid,
as if it never existed.
Farewell, my lady!
Cockadoodle-doooooo!
Is there a room in this kingdom that doesn't stink of death?
- What is this pestilence? - I know not, my liege.
Noooooo!
- I will die on this bed. - No, you will not!
Do not let my child die!
- Nobody will die! - You must push, my lady.
Cesare!
Mother.
How is she?
Alive still, at least.
I came as quickly as I could.
Stay back.
Plague.
Did the Borgia Pope know of this?
More effort, my lady.
Water.
Water!
God is with you.
Mother!
- Hello, Mother. - How are you, Cesare?
- Has she had it yet? - No.
A boy, I hope.
I tried, but I could not keep him away.
- He insisted. - Indeed.
Ah.
He loves each new arrival.
But try to tell him of the birthing pains.
No, no, no, no, no. Not now, Vanozza.
With Juan I was in agony for days.
- Do you remember? - Mmm. I remember...
the joy of holding him in my arms.
A brother for little Cesare at last.
We did love our children, did we not, my dear?
To a fault.
My God.
Lucrezia!
My darling.
May I...hold?
A boy.
Yes.
Your Holiness.
We should give thanks.
Whom should we thank?
God.
We should thank God
for all the blessings he has visited upon this,
our family.
He's beautiful.
Mm.